Diomansy Kamara pounced in the second half to secure Fulham a creditable draw in their Europa League clash with CSKA Sofia at the Vasil Levski National Stadium.

Apart from a worrying spell after the interval that kick-started a lively second half, Fulham were never overwhelmed and responded well to the Brazilian Michel Platini's fine 63rd-minute opener. CSKA were hoping to increase the pressure but they were caught on the break three minutes later. Erik Nevland found Kamara, who rifled home in front of 260 travelling fans for his first goal of the season.

It was a sweet goal for Kamara, who has become unsettled at Craven Cottage since slipping down the pecking order with reports linking him with a loan move to Newcastle.

The Fulham manager Roy Hodgson fielded a depleted side for the Group E opener, with key players such as Andy Johnson, Brede Hangeland and Danny Murphy absent. Only goalkeeper David Stockdale and the defender John Pantsil remained from the side that dispatched Everton 2-1 on Sunday, but the makeshift line-up coped admirably with the Bulgarian league leaders.

The introduction of an additional assistant referee alongside each goal passed without incident, although in a dismal first half this owed much to the lack of action in the penalty area. Ivan Stoyanov provided one of the few highlights when he reacted smartly to some careless play by Fulham, linking neatly with Yordan Todorov before firing narrowly wide of the left post.

Slowly CSKA tightened the screw, spending more time in Fulham's half without actually threatening the goal and their period of domination ended without reward. Simon Davies floated in a free-kick but Kamara was shackled by Ivan Ivanov and the ball flew to safety.

In a rare entertaining moment of an otherwise dull first half, Pantsil showed tenacity and skill to beat four players close to the byline before finally being dispossessed.

Jonathan Greening found space on the right, weaving his way into the area where he set up a tricky chance for Davies, but the Welshman struck his shot straight at Ivan Karadzhov.

In an energetic start to the second half, slippery footwork from the substitute Marquinhos was concluded with a superb flat ball into the box that CSKA claimed Stephen Kelly handled, but referee Darko Ceferin was not persuaded. Spas Delev squandered a excellent chance created by the influential Marquinhos, but CSKA did not have to wait much longer for a goal.

Growing increasingly ragged, Marquinhos chested the ball down to Michel, who buried the half-volley from the edge of the area. The lead lasted three minutes, however, as the bounce of Nevland's pass deceived Karadzhov and Kamara was able to skip away from the keeper before finding an empty net.

Fulham were thankful late on to Stockdale, who produced a relex save to push the ball over the bar to deny Todorov.